What an Amazing Time!

It's simply amazing to watch Olivia. Amanda and I are both addicted to her already! She's such a quiet baby...at least for now. That will change, I know, but I'm doing my best to enjoy just looking at her in such a peaceful state. I'm in awe and I love every second of it.

Amanda is doing very well recovering from her c-section. We should be leaving the hospital Saturday. As I sit here and type this, Amanda is sleeping with Olivia in the cradle at the end of the bed. I am such an incredibly lucky man. God is truly shining down on me and all I can do is thank Him over and over again for all His blessings. Here are two more pictures of Olivia. The first two you can't really see her face very well. With these, you definitely won't have that problem. You can see her self-inflicted scratches pretty well in the first one. Those baby fingernails are sharp! We may try cutting fingernails tomorrow. The second picture is my favorite so far. Remember all the hair the last ultrasound showed? It wasn't wrong!!!

Olivia's Birthday

Olivia Raine Swiatowy

Born: March 29, 2006 at 5:10pm CST
Weight: 7 pounds, 5 ounces
Length: 19.5 inches

Mom and baby are doing great...and dad's doing okay too.

We're Going In!

After this morning's visit to the ObGyn, Amanda decided she wanted to go ahead with the inducing process and the doctor agreed. So, we are headed to the hospital this evening! They will first try to kick the cervix into gear and see if it will thin out enought to cause stronger contractions. If that doesn't get labor started, they will start Pitocin tomorrow morning. If all goes well, Olivia's birthday will be tomorrow! I'll try to post some pictures tomorrow (depending on my level of consciousness). Keep us in your thoughts and prayers!

40 Weeks of Pregnancy...

...and we're still waiting for Olivia's arrivial. At this point, all we can do is be patient and wait. So, we wait...

Not Cleared to Land

After this morning's visit to the ObGyn, the doctor has decided to give it another week before doing anything...that is if Amanda doesn't go into labor naturally sometime this week. The doctor noted some progress, but it has been slow up to this point. Looks like my "spring baby" prediction is down the drain. That's okay...as long as Amanda doesn't have too much discomfort, she is willing to wait it out until Olivia is ready to join us. The biggest problem Amanda is dealing with is hip pain. We're using a combination of heat and massage to ease the pain. That's it for now...we're just waiting like everyone else! :-)

Still Standing By

After those pretty strong contractions last Friday night, things have calmed down quite a bit. That's not to say there's still some progression taking place. Amanda says there's a definite change in the way things feel, and she's still having general cramping, but we still haven't moved to the "full steam ahead" phase. At the last appointment (Monday), the exam showed that nothing has really changed in the last week. That's not all bad because the doctor is on vacation this week. Anyway, just a quick update to let y'all know nothing has happened...yet. More updates will be given as conditions warrant.

It May Be Getting Close

Amanda has had two well-defined contractions in the last 16 hours...one coming late last night and another after dinner tonight. They both started at the top of Amanda's belly and worked their way down. It seems that things may be progressing...not necessarily fast, but they do seem to be moving along now. Tomorrow, Amanda will be at week #38. I took a picture of her today and it may very well be the last pregnant picture I take of her...with this pregnancy, at least. :-) She's come a long way! Let's revisit the past, shall we? Say 24 weeks (roughly 6 months) ago. Here's the picture I took of her at 14 weeks:
Amazing how quickly things change! Thanks to all of you for your love and support! I'll do my best to keep you posted!

Full Term!

Today, Amanda is 37 weeks pregnant and is now considered full term! It's time to place your bets, ladies and gentlemen! What day will she arrive? How much will she weigh? I'm going with March 20th and a weight of 6 pounds, 12 ounces. The reason I'm picking March 20th is because it's the day spring starts and since I proposed to Amanda on the first day of winter, I thought it would be quite appropriate. As for the 6 lbs, 12 oz., spring arrives at 1:26pm, so I just rearranged the numbers a little. Amanda thinks Olivia will arrive on March 25 and weigh 6 pounds, 5 ounces. What do you think? Post your guess! We'd love to see 'em! I may even come up with some sort of prize for the person who guesses closest! Maybe I'll send you Olivia's first soiled diaper!! LOL! :-)

Also, thanks to Damon and Laurie, we now have a Pack-n-Play!